An Out of Body Experience
by horribly random
Summary: Things get strange when Castiel is tricked out of his body. He must find his true vessel, Jimmy, with Sam and Dean's help whilst trying to navigate in a surrogate body. Eventual Destiel, set up through 6x17. 'He wasn't completely sure, but Dean thought Sam just told him that it was alright to like Cas in his normal body. Or he might have fried his brain with too much reading.'
1. Chapter 1

_Hello everyone! Thanks for stopping by and checking out my story, hopfully you'll be back for the next chapter! _

_This is my first Supernatural story, but not my first fic. However, I may be a tad rusty, so give me a moment to slip back in to things. I've checked over this a gazillon times, but I'm only human, so bear with me! If there are any mistakes I'm crazy sorry, hopefully they're not too distracting. This will be eventual Destiel, though it may not seem like it at first, but we'll get there, promise! And we'll get there a lot faster if you guys review and let me know how I'm doing or if you even want it to continue. And besides, reviews make my meat-suit all dewey inside, and who doesn't like a dewey author?_

_No, you're right, that sounds completely unsanitary. I'm sorry. I'll quit rambling now. On with the show!_

* * *

"Dean, are you serious? You want us to sit back and do nothing?" Sam demanded heatedly, keeping his voice down in the crowded bar. "And you're not worried at all?"

"Of-freakin-course I'm worried Sam!" Dean slammed his beer down on the table in frustration, "But what do you want us to do? We've already called him, and we called Bobby to keep an eye out for demon activity. Not much else we can do until we have leads. And besides Cas is a big boy. He can handle himself- Hell, he handles us half the time."

Sam huffed and ran a hand through his hair, frustrated that they couldn't do anything more. Dean was right of course, but that didn't make it any less irritating.

Dean sighed, "Look, all I'm saying is we take this job while waiting for Cas. He'll be fine, and he knows how to find us. Besides, ganking evil sonsof bitches? It's practically like old times!"

He grinned in an attempt to lighten the mood and tipped his beer towards Sam, who pointedly ignored him, opting to scan the bar they were in. It was identical to all the other bars they'd ever frequented - dirty, cluttered, and dark. Complete with a motion-activated talking fish on the wall. Irritating.

"It's not Cas that I'm worried about. _He_ got away, the rest of him didn't." Sam murmured darkly, before turning back to Dean. "I'm heading back to the motel, see if I can get something done."

Dean watched Sam grab his jacket and hustle out the door before he turned back to the girl on the label of his El Sol beer.

"You're the only one who understands me baby." Dean sighed again and knuckled over his brow, letting his mind wander to the last time he saw the nerdy little angel.

* * *

**Wichita, Kansas. Two Days Ago.**

The Impala rolled to a stop outside the run down factory on the edge of town. It was reasonably light out side, only slightly overcast, but that did nothing to quell the sense of foreboding in the elder Winchester's gut.

"Well this doesn't feel like a trap or anything," Dean deadpanned, slamming his car door shut.

"Yeah, but this is definitely where the demons are, the whole place reeks of sulfur." Sam joined his brother at the arsenal in the Impala's trunk. He grabbed the demon-killing knife, a handgun, and an extra clip of ammunition.

"I know it, it's like they don't bathe or something," Grabbing his own weapons, Dean slammed the trunk shut. He turned and jumped back against the car when Castiel appeared in front of him. "Dammit Cas! You know I hate that, I nearly shot of my own foot!"

The angel merely looked confused. "You'll need all of your appendages for this Dean, it is much worse than we thought." Castiel fixed Dean with his signature intense gaze. "The demons have taken a hostage."

"You think the hostage is the missing librarian?" Sam asked stuffing his gun into his belt.

Dean swore, "Probably," he ran a hand over his face and looked at the decrepit building facing them. "Ok, new plan. Me and Sam will distract the demons while Cas pops in and zaps the librarian out of there."

With a flap of invisible wings Castiel was gone.

"I'll take that as an 'ok.'"

* * *

The factory was once home to a button manufacturing business - a moderately successful one at that. It employed many people in the city and the surrounding towns, a veritable _beacon _of security for the working masses. But that was before clothing manufacturers began outsourcing to cheaper third world labor. The factory workers were laid off, and production stopped. Since then the building had fallen into disrepair.

_But the equipment they left behind sure does make for some interesting torture. _Meg thought, fiddling with a rusted piece of machinery. Her head snapped around at the unmistakable squeal of rusty hinges. "Show time."

* * *

"You know, for once we should be smart about this and bring WD-40," Sam hissed, wincing at the creaky door hinges.

"Yeah alright handy man, let's go."

Dean went in first, clearing what once was the front office with his salt-filled sawed-off, Sam followed close behind. They stealthily moved across the dusty floors to the doors leading to the factory floor.

Dean began to count to the standard signal of three, reaching two before he was interrupted by the doors blowing open.

"Hello boys, did ya miss me?"

Dean and Sam stood, quickly surveying the situation. Meg stood at the center of the room, next to her was a beaten woman in a chair. They studied the shadows of the room, but no one else seemed to be there.

"Meg," Sam took a cautious step into the room. "Where's your posse?"

"Oh, don't you worry Sammy, they're around. But let's not talk about them," She smiled lasciviously, "Let's talk about _us._"

"Right, like how you've changed your M.O." Dean stepped forward, "What's with the people snatching? Unless nerdy is your type?"

Meg sauntered back to the librarian, smirking. She took the gagged, brown-hair woman's face in her hand, forcing the girl to look at her. "Oh yeah, me and little Lily here have been having loads of fun." Meg brought her face closer to the girl's. "Isn't that right sweetheart?"

The young woman whimpered as she struggled to yank her face away from the demon.

As Meg talked, Sam and Dean slowly edged forward and around in an attempt to surround the demon. Dean never lowered his gun from Meg's head, and Sam had the demon-killing knife prepared to stab.

"But," Meg announced, straightening, letting the girl's face drop away from her, "She's not really what I'm after."

"What, you were too shy to ask us out yourself so you had to lure us here?" Dean quipped, keeping steady aim on Meg. He continued to circle her, leading her attention away from the librarian - and Cas who appeared silently next to the bound girl.

"No cupcake, not to lure you, to lure him." Meg snapped her fingers and a circle of holy fire leapt up surrounding Castiel and the librarian. In the same moment Meg's demon cronies appeared to disarm Dean and Sam, holding them still until such a time when Meg gave them orders. "You see, Cassie here? Well, he's interesting. He's got some… dirty little secrets. And I want to know all of them."

She wandered over to the ring of fire separating her from the angel, making well sure there were no low overhanging pipes around. Wouldn't want a repeat of last time.

"Funny how we always seem to meet like this, huh peaches?"

"Then you know what happens next," Castiel growled, fists clenched. "I over power you, then we kill you."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves now." She turned away from him and began to circle his entrapment, "If you, or you boys," She came to face the Winchesters, "Make a move to harm a strand on my pretty little head, Lily here dies."

Meg snapped her fingers and the librarian began to moan, the dirty gag in her mouth blossoming red with blood.

"Meg you bitch!" Dean growled, struggling against his captors, "What's your end game here? You wanted to talk? You could've just asked nicely."

"Talk?" Meg laughed, turning to face Castiel again. "No, I want Cassie to spill his guts." She murmured, almost tenderly.

"Not likely," Cas said, nodding to Sam. Meg whipped around in time to see Sam rock his head back against the face of his captor. Another demon appeared as Sam bent to retrieve his knife. He came back up, plunging the blade into the underside of the demon's jaw, the tip protruding out of his skull.

Dean elbowed the large man holding him hostage in the stomach, coming up quickly to elbow the doubled-over demon in the face. There was a satisfying crunch of cartilage and gurgle of blood as Sam came up to further dispatch the man. Three more abominations stepped forward to take his place.

"Uh-huh, thought this might happen." Meg calmly watched as her henchmen were slaughtered. "You boys just don't listen." She snapped her fingers again and Lily's neck snapped.

"Cas!" Sam shouted, stabbing one more demon before throwing a spurt of holy water towards Meg. He was quickly occupied again by a meaty white guy howling in rage.

"Missed me," Meg ducked easily, allowing the holy water to sail uselessly over her head. The water splashed into the fire, breaking the ring, if only momentarily. But, that was all that was needed.

"Not quite," Cas said before ordering, "Boys, close your eyes!" He allowed his wings to unfurl, his true form rising out of his vessel and easily batting the broken ring of holy fire out.

The boys dutifully shielded their eyes against the intensity of the light, as did Meg. The other demons weren't so smart. Their dying screams could be heard over the ear piercing noise of Castiel's true from.

"Thought you might try that too," Meg said, and with her eyes still closed she brought forth a piece of paper from her jacket. She blindly unfolded it, and placed her hand over the sigil painted in blood, murmuring chants quickly. She finished her chanting and with another blinding flash of light Castiel was sent away. His vessel Jimmy, however, stayed.

The Winchesters lowered their arms from their eyes to see Meg walk over to Jimmy's body.

"See you on the flipside boys," She said before winking out, Jimmy in tow.

"Shit!" Dean kicked the body of a demon in rage. "She got away _again_!"

Sam went to the librarian. _Lily_, he told himself. He lifted two fingers to her neck, searching for a pulse. He sighed and turned back to Dean.

"She's gone." He ran a weary hand over his bleeding face, suddenly noting the half crumpled paper on the ground.

"Well," He stooped to pick it up, "I guess we know what the librarian was for." He showed the paper to Dean.

"Her blood."

Dean swore and kicked the deceased demon again.


	2. Chapter 2

_Hey Kids!_

_I'm back with chapter two! It's quite a bit longer than the first chapter, and the beginning starts a bit angsty, but it picks up in the middle. Hopefully ya'll like it, I worked pretty hard on this chapter, and I'm pretty satisfied with how it turned out. However, I really need your feed back people! Last chapter I only got one review, which was pretty disheartening, but I want to thank my lovely reviewer! With out her I probably would have scrapped this story. So please, please, please review, even if you list every wrong thing I've done so far. I can't fix it if I don't know what's wrong!_

_Anyway, I'll stop begging, let's get this ball rolling!_

* * *

Sam awoke with the dawn, watching the first tendrils of light peek under the motel curtains. He laid in bed, fighting the random flashes of memory that barraged his sleep, and less frequently his waking moments. Most of the memories didn't make sense, just moving pictures with no meaning, but sometimes he saw horrible things, things that made him want to be sick. They made him afraid of what else he did, but a morbid sense of curiosity drove him to find answers. Even though Dean told him not to, Sam began to scratch at the wall.

When Sam finally did get up he was surprised to see that the morning had stolen in quietly. He moved softly about the room, not wanting to wake his brother. Dean came in pretty late last night, more than a little hammered. Part of Sam was annoyed as shit by it, Dean was gonna be a bitch today; but part of him understood it. They both felt guilty as hell that they let Meg get away. Dean probably felt more so -he was a lot closer to Cas than Sam was.

Sam finally left the room to grab breakfast -extra greasy for Dean's hang over- and he immediately regretted bringing his jacket. Stepping out side was like stepping directly into someone's mouth; hot and humid. It was as if the whole sky was holding its breath, waiting for the thunderstorm that was sure to break that afternoon.

Back in the room Dean jolted awake in a cold sweat. He'd been having a nightmare -no surprise there- but this one took a turn for the worst. On top of his visions of hell were new images of torture, namely Castiel's. _Actually, just Jimmy's_, a small part of his brain whispered above the pounding in his skull, but was quickly forgotten in the deluge of pain.

He groaned and clutched at his head, not daring to open his eyes to the half-light of the room. It felt like a monkey was tap-dancing on his retinas and beating cymbals against his temples. After giving himself a few moments he sat up slowly, resisting the urge to slump back over into the pillows. The dizziness almost bowled him over anyway.

_It feels just like turning into a vamp, _he thought ruefully.

Slowly, achingly slowly, Dean stood and made his way across the room to the bathroom. He stumbled against the door, sagging for a moment. _Never again, I won't drink ever again, _he lied to himself as he got undressed.

Once in the shower he let the water turn scalding hot and rested his forehead against the cool tile wall. A mantra of 'what-if's began to play in tandem with the pounding in his skull.

_What if we hadn't rushed in there blindly? What if we had taken the time to scout out that factory? What if we didn't bring Cas_?

His thoughts soon turned darker, his biggest fears coming out to play. _What if you were _better_, Dean? What if you were smarter? What if you _can't_ save Castiel's vessel? What if Castiel _never_ comes back? _

That last thought rang around his head, mocking him. Dean sank down slowly, unable to stand under the weight of his guilt anymore. He cradled his head in his hands, the scalding water continuing to barrage him, but he barely felt it. The only thing he really felt was the two tracks of shame crawling their way down his face, and the anxious ball of emotions eating away at his chest.

He had no idea what he would do if Cas was really just gone. It would be another failure on his part, another foundation ripped out from under him. Another example of just how useless he really was. If Cas were gone, it was all over. Not only would Raphael's wrath rain down upon them, but the apocalypse would start anew, and Dean doubted they could stop it a second time.

Dean let himself fall apart, let himself come undone in the face of his fears for only a moment more before he put his lid back on. He picked himself up, the quibbling mess that he was, and put his backbone back in place. He set his jaw determinedly and put a brave face on.

_For Sammy,_ he told himself. But really who was he kidding? Sam didn't need a brave face from Dean. _Because he doesn't need you,_ his mind hissed at him. He ignored his involuntary self-deprecation and finished his shower quickly.

* * *

"I'm back!" Sam called out, shutting the motel door. "And I brought food!"

"Sammy you're an angel," Dean said, towel fluffing his hair dry in the bathroom. He tossed the used towel on the bed (_My bed, _Sam twitched) and gravitated toward the greasy fast food bag. "A bacon, egg, and cheese McHeart attack, perfect!"

"Yeah, no prob." Sam cleared his throat, "Hey, um, Dean?" he shuffled nervously, scratching at his neck. "Look, I was thinking about last night, and I just- I mean-"

"Yeah, I know Sam. Me too." There was a pause of awkward silence in which the brothers just looked at each other. In the other's eyes they both saw their own failures, but they also held a new beginning.

What was this, like their fifth new beginning?

Sam cleared his throat and the moment passed, apology accepted both ways. "Anyway, I did some research last night on our victims." He sat down and pulled a box toward himself, "It seems that they all visited a jazz and blues club in town before they died."

"Sweet, that sounds like a place to start. Do we have any idea on what's ganking these poor bastards?"

"No, but their files say they all reported having strange dreams of women before they died." Sam flipped through the various papers scattered across the table. He found what he was looking for and handed it to Dean.

"What's this?" Dean asked through a mouthful of fast food.

"That is a picture of the latest victim. Matthew Grey, twenty-eight years old. He was an up-and-coming Jazz singer touring the country. Guess where he was last night?"

"You say this kid is in his twenties? He looks freakin' ancient!" Dean wiped his mouth clean of crumbs and set the photo down. Greasy, smudgy fingerprints were left behind on the paper, much to Sam's irritation.

"Yeah, whatever is killing these guys is draining them; he died of exhaustion." Sam placed the photo back in his file. "I still can't figure it out though, what drains people like that?"

"Maybe it's that Irish witch again?" Dean suggested, flipping though his father's journal for anything helpful.

"Nahh, he died when his girlfriend did. Maybe.." He trailed, trying to come up with something. "Maybe, I don't know. Guess we better call it in to Bobby."

"No, no wait. You said they dreamed of women before they died?" Dean was reading a page intently.

"Yeah, why, you find something?" Sam said, sitting forward.

"Maybe, did they describe the women?"

"Uh, yeah," Sam flipped though the file again, "They were describe as 'beautiful women, naked, and beckoning to them.'"

Dean slid the journal toward his brother, "Naked chicks and beckoning, I think I know what we're dealing with."

"What?"

"A succubus."

"Seriously?" Sam reached for the journal and read the page. "I thought succubus was just another word for siren."

"According to Dad it wasn't originally. They haunt men's dreams, siphoning off their energy. The real death's kiss is more like death by sex; once they do it, the guy is squeezed like a grape for every drop of energy he's got."

Sam pulled a face, "Eugh, bad visual. I guess we know where her hunting grounds are then -the club."

"Awesome, so how do we kill it?"

* * *

"Great, thanks Bobby. We'll call you if we hear anything from Cas." Sam hung up the phone and turned to Dean, "Well, we have a problem. According to Bobby a succubus is kind of like a demon."

"So we kill it with the demon knife and call it a day, I don't see the problem." Dean finished straightening his tie and did a once-over in the mirror of his monkey suit. "Lookin' good. I almost charm the pants off myself."

Sam rolled his eyes at a madly grinning Dean. "Right Narcissus, except it's not that easy. The succubus has no tell, not until the victim is hopelessly infatuated with her."

"Well then I guess we better hope that one of us gets lucky tonight," Dean turwinked, flashing Sam with another charming smile.

* * *

As promised, that afternoon broke with a massive thunderstorm that continued throughout the day. It was still raining that evening when Sam and Dean rolled to a stop in front of the jazz lounge.

_Smokey's_ was emblazoned in red neon above the door. The club occupied the corner space of a set of strip buildings on the edge of downtown. The whole place seemed kind of seedy. _But I guess that's part of the blues appeal,_ mused Sam from the front seat of the Impala.

"Alright, let's dice us up a succubus," Dean said, throwing the car into park. He grabbed his gun and knife from the backseat, hiding them underneath his blazer. He turned to Sam, "Ready?"

Sam nodded and grabbed his own weapons, checking that the safety was on his gun. Dean launched himself out of the car and across the parking lot, unsuccessfully dodging raindrops.

_Why don't we ever bring umbrellas? _Sam wondered, following in Dean's footsteps.

Inside the club was dry, and crowded. Much more so than either one of the Winchesters would have expected.

"What the hell?" Sam looked around the crush of bodies in the dingy space.

"I don't know man. Look, you go find us a table, scope the place out, I'll talk to the bartender." Dean said, already slipping into the crowd. He pushed his way to the bar and ordered two beers.

"So, uh, what's going on here? Why so crowded?" He asked the man behind the bar. The guy was youngish, with a handsome face and dark hair -very much the jazz type.

"Business man, business. People heard through word-of-mouth that Matthew Grey was coming to town, and singers from all over flocked here to try and impress his manager. It's been like this for a week!" The bartender looked thrilled at the crowd in his club. "It's like a dream come true!"

"A dream come true is the last thing you want," Dean muttered, worrying his lip with his teeth. A week fit just in with when the killings started.

"What?" The bartender looked confused.

"Nothing man, congratulations," Dean said, turning away to scout for Sam. He located his brother's shaggy hair in the corner of the lounge, away from the stage. Ducking around people, Dean made his way over to the table.

"Hey," Sam said, looking up at him. "So far nothing suspicious, you find out anything from the bartender?"

"Yeah, he said that it started getting crowded like this when drifting singers came around for Matthew Grey, about a week ago. Same time the killings started." Dean set the beers down and took a seat.

"You think it could be one of the singers?" Sam asked, scanning the lounge once again. Dean was about to answer but was interrupted by a man coming on stage.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us tonight. It means a lot to me, to Matthew's manager, and his family that you all could make it for his tribute night. Although he was cut down in his prime, he will always be remembered as a bright star in a dark room." The man bowed and walked off the stage, the curtain opening to reveal a beautiful woman sitting at a piano.

"Well, she's hot. Definitely wet-dream worthy," Dean commented, turning back to Sam.

"Yeah, maybe. We should interview Matthew's manager, see if he saw anything funny before Matthew's death." Sam kept his eyes on the man who just walked off stage. He was slightly balding, and slightly overweight. The man walked over to a lady sitting at one of the front tables. She seemed upset. "Scratch that, I think the manager is a lady."

Dean turned to follow Sam's gaze. "This place is full of hot surprises, why don't we hang out in blues clubs more often?"

"Not really our style," Sam said, watching Dean get up.

"I'm gonna go talk to- whoa! Watch it!" Dean stopped short, almost bowling over a girl who seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

"I'm sorry I-"

Dean cut her off, "Hey beautiful, I'm sorry about that. You gotta be more careful, a pretty little thing like you." He barreled on with out stopping, "What are you doing here? Another Matthew mourner?" His grin was almost wolfish as he looked down at her. The girl, for her part seemed unfazed.

"I was looking for you," She said simply. _Ooh, good one,_ Dean thought, filing that line away for later.

"Well you found me," Dean dropped his voice and sidled closer to the girl, "What do you want to do with me?" He lowered his face closer to hers, officially invading her body space until their breath mingled. Sam rolled his eyes from the table,_ so much for staying focused_.

The girl cocked her head in an overly familiar confused way. "I want to find my true vessel with you and Sam. This body is…" She looked down at herself, "Uncomfortable."

Dean gasped, "Cas?"


	3. Chapter 3

_Hola! How's everyone doing today?_

_Cool story, tell it to me again. Kidding! You guys aren't here for conversation! You're here for some hawt angel-on-man action!_

_Well, its not here. Yet! It will be soon, but for now we have some plot development! Duh, duh, duuuuh! But we do have the beginnings of Destiel sprinkled in, just for you my lovely readers._

_ I am ever so sorry that my update is so late, writing this chapter was like pulling teeth, it just didn't want to work with me. I blame Castiel, he, er, she was hard as crap to write!_

_So, as always, read and review! If you review I'll give you, free of charge, your very own Deanie-baby (TM)! A cute little plush Dean to take with you where ever you go! And as extra incentive, if you go read and review the oneshot I wrote last week, I'll throw in a Bobby Deanie-baby free*!_

_*Wheelchair attatchment costs extra, not valid where prohibited. Deanie-babys not sold or distributed on the planet Earth. Standard shipping rates apply._

_Anyway, let's get started here!_

* * *

_The girl cocked her head in an overly familiar confused way. "I want to find my true vessel with you and Sam. This body is…" She looked down at herself, "Uncomfortable." _

_ Dean gasped, "Cas?"_

"Yes?" The girl was not perturbed by the invasion of her space, just as she did not bat an eye when Dean stumbled back from her. There was a moment of silnce in which the Winchesters absorbed Castiel's new look.

Sam finally stood and pulled Castiel into a hug, her smaller body almost disappearing into him. "We were worried about you man, uh, lady. What happened?" He and the angel settled into the booth, and after a moment Dean followed suit.

"Meg sent my true form away with her spell. I don't even know where she found something like that. It's obscure, even among angels."

"So where did you go? Where have you been?" Sam rapid-fired questions at Cas, who answered them dutifully.

"I was sent back to heaven. It is imperative that we find my vessel quickly. I am sure Meg is not treating Jimmy gently." Cas ran a hand over her face. "I have been attempting to convince this girl to let me use her body for the past two days."

Dean, who was over his initial shock, tipped his beer toward Cas, "I've been doing that with girls for years. Nice to see you're catching on."

Sam rolled his eyes, turning his attention back to the girl next to him, "So who is she Cas? The girl you're wearing?"

Castiel continued to gaze confusedly at Dean while answering Sam, "This is Jimmy's niece, Miriam. I promised him that I wouldn't use his daughter, and his brother is dead. She was the next best thing."

"I'll say! Good freakin' job Cas," Dean looked the angel up and down. "This chick is hot."

Indeed, the girl Castiel was wearing was fairly attractive. She had shoulder length red hair, and the same curiously blue eyes that Jimmy had. Though not very tall, the body spoke of reasonable strength, or at least the ability to defend herself.

"Wow Dean, you just can't stop hitting on Cas today, can you?" Sam rolled his eyes at his brother, who was turning a curious shade of puce.

"No -I was just giving him, er, her a compliment -I mean-"

"Don't hurt yourself man," Sam advised, thoroughly enjoying Dean's discomfort. Dean struggled for a few more moments before setting his gaze decidedly away from the pair opposite him.

"Whatever," he said sourly. "We're not here to chit chat. Succubus, remember?"

" Succubus?" Castiel looked from Dean to Sam.

"Yeah, uh, we picked up a case while you were," Sam paused a beat, looking guilty. "Away." he finished.

"Have you located her?"

"Not exactly, but we think she's here, at this club." Dean finished his beer and stood. "I'm going to go talk to the manager."

Castiel scanned the crowded room, "There." He pointed to the corner just as a commotion broke out.

"YOU DID IT! I know you did it!" The manager was hysterically shouting and pointing at the singer, who just walked off the stage. "You killed him!"

The woman looked shocked, "I, I don't know what you're saying."

The hysterical woman began to launch herself at the singer, but was caught from behind by Dean.

"Shh, shh, calm down lady," He attempted to sooth her as Castiel and Sam ran up.

"Dean, it really is the singer," Sam stared down the succubus, who dropped her wide-eyed look as soon as she heard that. She started to back away, a smile curling on her face.

"Well, I'd love to stay for this party, but I have somewhere to be." She turned tail and ran out the emergency exit toward the alley, Sam and Cas hot on her trail.

The rain had stopped sometime ago, leaving the alley wet and humid. Sam was gaining on the succubus fast, she only made it halfway down the alley before he tackled her to the ground, into a puddle of fetid water.

She flipped under him and kicked him in the gut, to no avail.

"Get off me you lump!" She chopped him savagely in the jugular and followed up with a quick knock to his temple. Sam was dizzied, but only long enough for the succubus to wriggle out from underneath him.

She stumbled before gaining speed, running down the alleyway. She looked back at Sam, to see that he was chasing her again.

"You forgot about me." Castiel said from in front of the girl. She whipped her head around in time for Castiel to grab it, using her grace to quietly kill the succubus.

The girl crumpled to the ground as Dean burst from the back door.

"What happened, did we get her?" He heaved, coming to stand next to his brother.

Sam clapped Dean's shoulder, "Yeah, we got her."

Sirens sounded in the distance, coming towards them.

"Sounds like someone called the cops, we better get going," Dean said, tilting his head toward the noise. A second siren sounded a lot closer to them. "Like now."

* * *

Back at the motel Dean poured himself a much-needed drink.

"Thanks, by the way, for leaving me with crazy crying lady."

"You'll get over it," Sam said from the bathroom, where he was washing his face.

Dean fell silent, staring at his glass. His eyes slowly roamed to the girl in the middle of the room.

She didn't take up much space, standing at only 5'6. She seemed polished, her hair was carefully groomed, and her clothes seemed well put together, versus Jimmy's permanent disheveled look, and mismatched tan overcoat with a navy suit. Honestly, she was everything Jimmy was not. The only thing in common between the two was the striking blue of their eyes.

No matter how different the bodies were though, Dean was surprised to see that it was just Cas. Castiel could be found in the walk, the tilted looks, and the way of speaking; whether in an even alto or a rumbling bass. The angel transcended his, or her physical form. It was kind of comforting.

That being said, Dean kind of missed Castiel's true vessel. The unchecked stubble, gravelly voice, crazy hair, everything. As pretty as she was, his Castiel belonged in a dirty tan trench coat.

_Wait, what?_ Dean pulled back quickly from his thoughts. _His_ Castiel? Where had that come from?

Castiel set her unblinking, owlish gaze on Dean, seeming to stare straight through his skull into his brain.

_At least that look is the same,_ Dean thought, breaking their eye contact.

"So," Sam began, leaning against the bathroom door, "Any idea where Meg is?"

Castiel sighed and sat heavily on the bed, "No, I can't trace her. She must be hiding herself from angels."

"Maybe Bobby will know what to do, we gotta tell him Cas is back anyway," Sam grabbed his cell phone from the table and retreated back into the bathroom.

"Hey Cas," Dean seemed to be choosing his words carefully. "When we were in that factory, Meg said something that I was wondering about."

If Castiel wasn't already unnaturally still, she might have frozen. This is what she didn't want, to answer the question that is bound to be coming.

She stayed silent, acknowledging Dean with her stare.

"She said, uh," Dean cleared his throat, "She said that you had 'dirty little secretes.' Do you know what she meant?"

"No," Cas looked away from Dean. "I have no idea."

Dean was taken aback. It was the answer he expected, not the reaction though. Castiel wouldn't look at him, and that worried Dean more than anything.

"Cas," He began, but was interrupted by Sam coming back into the room.

"Thanks Bobby, we'll head out now. See you soon." He clipped the phone shut, turning to the two in the room. "Alright, I just told Bobby we'd drive back to him. He should have something by the time we get there."

Dean looked to Cas, not finished with their conversation, but the angel was already standing.

"I'll see what I can find in the meantime," She said, before winking out with a flap of wings.

"Shit," Dean muttered, standing.

"What?" Sam pulled his duffle bag out and began to throw in what little worldly possessions he had.

"Nothing, it's nothing." Try as he might, Dean just couldn't lose the sinking pit in his stomach. Shaking his head, he resolved to forget about it. "Let's get this show on the road."

* * *

Castiel touched down inside of a dark, dirty room. Dim lighting flickered above, and a soft whimpering could be heard coming from the corner of the room.

"Ah, Cassie, you've redecorated." A voice came from behind.

"Meg, do you know where she is?" Castiel didn't bother turning. No matter, the speaker walked around to face her. He was cleaning a bloody knife, fresh from monster torture.

"Haven't any idea." The speaker continued to circle her.

"I must say though, this new look works for you. But I do rather miss your old meat suit," The voice stopped behind her, his breath hovering over her ear. "He was something I could get behind."

"Enough of your games Crowley," Castiel turned to face the demon, who now stood taller than her. "Find Meg. She has my vessel."

"Aw, but what about your human, Dean? Wouldn't he warm up to you better while you're in this form?" Crowley traced her curves in the air, the blade still in his hand. "That's what you want, isn't it?"

"Find the demon," Castiel growled, "And I won't drop you into the pit with Lucifer."

"Your threats are cute, Angel, but-" Crowley's words fell flat in the empty room, the angel had gone.

"Oh great, because it's not like I'm doing most of the work in our outfit anyway!" Crowley shouted at the ceiling. He growled and threw the knife, embedding it deep in the wall.

Turning to the siren strapped to the table, he began to remove his bloodied apron. "Your lucky day princess. Duty calls."


	4. Chapter 4

_Bonjour! Comment va tout le monde fait? Avez-vous me manquer?_

_I'm just yankin' your chain, I don't know how to speak French! And if you don't either, then that is supposed to say 'Hello! How's everyone doing today? Did you miss me?' Hopefully google translate got it right!_

_Anyway, to the issue at hand. I want to thank all of my lovely reviewers for their continued support, you guys get five thousand bonus points! And secondly, I want to remind all you readers to review! I'll give you candy! (No I won't.)_

_And now to the crux of the matter, we're almost there people! This chapter pretty much wrote itself, my hands could barely keep up. I think we have like, two, maybe three chapters, if I stretch it, left to go! Which is convienent because I head off to college next Monday, and I would love to have this done by then._

_Now to the important stuff! (Seeing a pattern yet? I'm full of self-importance.) The chapter awaits!_

* * *

"Jim Jim Jamboree," Meg stooped to eye level with the broken man before her. "You've been awake for three days now. Things must be getting kind of loopy up in that pretty little noggin of yours, huh?"

James Novak stared back at her in terror, a strangled whimper in his throat.

"You know what will make all of this go away?" Meg thought about it and shrugged, "Or at least make it lessen slightly?" She paused again, waiting for Jimmy to answer her. When it appeared he wouldn't, she continued.

"The answer, peaches, is you TALKING!" She spat in his face, eyes black with frustration and fury.

Jimmy flinched away from the demon, her endlessly dark eyes too close to his own.

Meg was right, his lack of sleep really was making him 'loopy.' Hallucinations of terrible things writhed in the shadows at the corners of his vision. And he swore, anytime he was even remotely near unconsciousness he would hear someone calling to him -his niece, of all people.

He almost wanted to laugh at that idea, but tears were welling in his eyes anyway. His niece, whom he hadn't seen in years, his very first 'baby girl,' was calling him. He would never see her again. He would never see his wife or daughter again. He would never sneak a peek out of his own body at the humans in Castiel's protection; never see the one the angel cared so much for, Dean, again.

He would never see the angel again. That stupid, awful, wonderful, almost-perfect being he'd been strapped to for the past three years, the one that was now so much a part of him that his own head felt quiet and empty. And Jimmy would never see him again.

Tears threatened to spill over his lower lashes as Jimmy lamented the loss of everything he held dear.

"Oh, honey," Meg cooed at him, her voice back to being honey-sweet. Her eyes cleared of black as she straddled his lap. "Don't cry Angel. Just tell me what I want to know, and this can stop. I'll put you out of your misery, or better yet, I can keep you with me! I've grown fond of your baby blues." She carded a hand through his hair, massaging gently at the nape of his neck. "Just tell me where Crowley is."

Jimmy looked up, finding his voice once again. It was soft and bitter, "I told you, I don't know. I'm not awake all of the time, you know everything I do."

_Damn that stupid angel for doing this. The whole damn thing is wrong! _Jimmy seethed for a moment, wanting to blame Castiel for everything. But he couldn't let himself do that, just as he couldn't tell Meg everything. The angel was mistaken, but hadn't he been mistaken before too? He couldn't just give Meg what she wanted, he owed Castiel at least that.

"Oh, you see that? What you did right there?" Meg's voice was still deceptively sweet, "That's called _lying._" She hissed, savagely twisting the sensitive hairs on the nape of Jimmy's neck.

"I've told you he's alive, didn't I? I told you that I've seen him?! It's not like Castiel uses a fucking roadmap to get to him! I don't KNOW, alright?" Jimmy shouted, yanking his head from her grasp. His voice grew hoarse, "I just don't know."

"Well, since you won't play ball," Meg rose from his lap, and walk back to her work table. She picked something up, studying it, "I guess we'll just have to carve it out of you." Her scalpel glinted in the light.

Outside of the button factory, in Wichita, Kansas, couple taking a country drive swore they heard screams rip through the air.

"It's nothing darling, probably just lambs from the local farm being sheared."

* * *

**Sioux Falls, South Dakota**

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty, rise and shine," Dean jostled his brother in the passenger seat awake. He swung out of the car, grabbing his bag from the back. "We're here."

Sam looked around Bobby's salvage yard groggily, "What time is it?"

"Eight a.m." Dean slammed his door shut and headed into the house.

"Bobby! We're here!" Dean called out, setting his bag down next to the front door.

"In here!" Bobby's voice came from the front office. Following the voice, Dean found the elder hunter hunched over his desk leafing through dusty tomes.

"Hey Bobby, did you find anything?" Sam walked in behind Dean.

"Does it look like I found anything? Don't ask stupid questions boy." He didn't even look up from his books.

"Crabby," Sam muttered, stretching his gigantor body out.

"I've tried the usual song-and-dance summoning, didn't work. Now I'm looking for something more powerful. Where's Cas?"

The angel in question appeared behind Bobby's chair.

"What have you found?"

The elder man jumped visibly, clutching at his heart. "Jesus! I could have had a heart attack!" He swiveled around to face Castiel. "You got a face lift."

Castiel ignored him and peered at the books over Bobby's shoulder. "The demon, have you found her?"

"Yeah, she's hiding in the closet. No I haven't found her you idjit!" Bobby turned back to his desk, more than irritated. "I'm looking though, you three can start reading those books over there." Bobby pointed to a stack of books as tall as a man.

Castiel looked surprise from Bobby's outburst. Castiel also looked like crap. Her hair was a windblown mess, and her leather coat was scuffed.

_Guess the disheveled look really is Cas,_ Sam mused absent mindedly.

"Jesus Cas, what the hell happened to you?" Dean asked, concern lacing his voice.

Castiel played with a new tear in her jeans, "I went to heaven and things are…" Her eyes flickered up to Dean's for a moment, "Not going well. I need my true vessel back. This," She gestured to herself, "Is like admitting to weakness, that I can't keep a hold of my own body. My garrison is starting to wonder."

Dean reached for Castiel's shoulder, "Hey, we'll get Jimmy back, ok?"

Castiel looked at the hand on her shoulder, her eyes trailing up the length of his arm to find Dean's face. "Thank you," she murmured.

"We'll get Jimmy back a lot faster if you two stop making goo-goo eyes at each other and get to reading!" Bobby snapped, startling the pair. Dean's hand dropped from Castiel's shoulder as if he were burned.

Castiel missed the comforting pressure. She had given up long ago of trying to convince herself that her feelings for Dean were purely platonic. She felt the need to protect him, as she did all of the humans in her life. But Dean's safety took precedence over all others, if not for his sake, than for her own. So Castiel could see his face, hear his voice, and feel the determination of his soul.

_Truly he is one of God's more perfect creatures._

Castiel had never breathed a word of that to anyone, of course. Not only because of her own fear of rejection, but also because of the trouble it would stir in the heavens. Angels were not meant to be romantically involved with anyone. Ever.

But soon that would change. Soon Castiel will get her proper body back, and gain the power she needed to over throw Raphael. Then _she_ would be the one to decide what was meant and not meant to be.

Her only fear was that she would lose Dean in the process.

Looking up briefly, blue eyes met green, and held. Clearing his throat after an eternity, Dean looked back to his book.

Another pair of eyes, brown this time, slowly drifted back to his own book. Sam had seen everything.

* * *

It was well after midnight when Sam snapped his book shut, "That's it, I can't read anymore. My eyes are about to fall out of my head."

In the last fifteen hours he had only gotten up to pee and to quickly shove a sandwich down his throat.

"We have to find Castiel's vessel," Dean insisted, but he too was rubbing his eyes.

"And what? We find Jimmy and you expect to storm the demon fortress after not having slept for two days? Hate to say it, but Sam's right." Bobby stretched, and slowly pushed himself up from the desk. "I'm going to bed, see you hooligans bright and early."

"G'night Bobby," The Winchesters chorused, each stretching out his own kinks.

The angel hadn't moved from her spot, still immersed in research.

Dean spared her a passing glance, before grabbing a beer from the fridge and stepping outside for some air.

The best thing about Bobby living in the middle of nowhere, in Dean's opinion, was the stars. There were so many of them. Some of them seemed so far, lifetimes away, and some shone right above his head.

Dean scrubbed his face with his hand. God, he was such a wuss. Gazing at the stars like a love-sick puppy, having doe-eyed staring contests with a freakin' angel. It was borderline pathetic. Hell, it _was_ pathetic.

Where did he come off day dreaming, freakin' _day dreaming_, about Castiel? What was he thinking, actually missing the crazy dark hair of the angel's true vessel? That body, Jimmy's body, was what he thought of when he though of Castiel. How could he be thinking… crazy things about the angel _in that body?_

If Castiel had always been in the girl -Miriam's body- it would be a different story. His thoughts would be more natural. At least then he wouldn't be thinking blasphemy on a two-fold level. At least then his sexuality wouldn't be in question.

"Hey," Dean was startled out of his thoughts by Sam.

Dean turned back to the sky as Sam came to stand next to him. "Hey."

"So this is all pretty crazy, huh? It's funny, to see Cas like this."

"Yeah, pretty crazy," Dean took another swig of his beer, sneaking a peek at his brother. Sam had one hand wrapped around a beer, another shoved into his pocket, paying no mind to Dean.

"I guess it reminds you that Cas is a sentient being, not a boy or a girl. It's kind of odd, trying to wrap my head around that." Sam laughed, keeping his eyes carefully trained on the stars. Dean snapped his head around, fully starting at his brother. He made some noise of assent in his throat.

"I'm not gonna lie though, I kind of miss his old body. It was very Cas, ya know?" There was a moment of thoughtful silence before Sam met Dean's eyes. "You're a real good friend to Cas, I don't think you know how much he appreciates it."

Dean's mouth felt dry, "She. Cas is a she right now."

"I know, but I like Cas better as a he, don't you?" Sam finished his beer and shoved off the porch railing. "Well, I'm off to bed. Good night Dean."

"Goodnight," Dean trailed weakly. He wasn't completely sure, but he thought Sam just told him that it was alright to like Cas in his normal body.

Or he might have fried his brain with too much reading. One of the two.


End file.
